Mike Moon retiring as Martin County airport director

STUART — Martin County Airport Director Mike Moon is retiring from his $130,000 a year job and plans to move to North Carolina to pursue private sector opportunities and watch his daughter Christen play college softball.

Moon presided over several years of growth at Witham Field that sparked a major controversy in Martin County and prompted county residents to pack several County Commission meetings in the mid-2000s to complain about an increase in aircraft traffic, noise and air pollution.

Moon said Thursday his decision to retire after running Witham Field for nearly 15 years was triggered by the elimination of his position as of the end of the 2010 budget year on Sept. 30.

Moon said he agreed with the county’s decision to create a new airport manager position with a substantially lower salary because of the recession and the completion of most of the work needed to modernize Witham Field.

“I think it’s a good move on the county’s part in this economy,” Moon said. “The position has changed. It’s not as demanding a position as it once was over the past few years. I think we’ve taken care of a lot of the major issues, noise being probably the biggest one.”

Martin County has received 21 applications for the airport manager post, which has a pay range of $58,600 to $90,930 per year, Administrative Services Administrator Garry Gierlicz said.

Acting County Administrator Taryn Kryzda said she hopes to fill the job by the end of October.

Several airport tenants, county officials and business leaders credited Moon with dramatically improving virtually every aspect of the 726-acre airport on the edge of the city of Stuart.

“He knew how to get things done and he got them done,” said Marshal “Bud” Wilcox, a former county commissioner who serves on the county’s Airport Noise Advisory Committee. “Mike came onto Witham Field when it was not classified as a good, safe airport. What he did was to fix the problems. He did exactly what the County Commission wanted and made Witham Field one of the best airports of its size in the country.”

Joe Catrambone, the president of the Stuart/Martin County Chamber of Commerce, said Moon enhanced the business environment at the airport, which is considered a key to economic development in the county.

“I think he’s the best thing that ever happened to Witham Field,” Catrambone said. “Whatever progress we’ve made it directly is (attributable), in my opinion, to Mike Moon and his efforts.”

David Smith, general manager of Galaxy Aviation, one of the two fixed-base operators at Witham Field, also credited Moon with obtaining federal and state grants to help pay for millions of dollars worth of improvements to the airport.

“When he inherited the airport, it was very much in need of attention,” Smith said. “I think he’s done an excellent job in doing his very best for the community in controlling noise and modernizing the gateway to Martin County.”

The county-owned airport has undertaken several initiatives to reduce jet noise, including new departure procedures calling for pilots to fly out over the St. Lucie Inlet and wait until they are well past residences before turning or zooming up to higher altitudes, Moon said.

Safety has also been improved with the construction of a new air traffic control tower, the repaving of the main runways and the installation of lights on the runways and taxiways, Moon said. Security also has been upgraded with the fencing, video cameras and controlled access to the airport grounds.

“We have an extremely good safety record,” Moon said. “We’ve never had an accident or an incident that was the airport’s fault because of poor maintenance of something like that.”

But longtime airport watchdog Dave Shore, the president of the Witham Airport Action Majority, questioned Moon’s record on safety in the wake of the controversial 1998 lengthening of Runway 12-30 by 460 feet, which in turn extended the Runway Protection Zone into a residential neighborhood.

“We certainly didn’t agree with the increased runway length,” Shore said. “Certainly we weren’t looking for the increase we’ve seen in the jet traffic.”

“Moon’s mandate ... was grow the airport; grow, grow, grow,” Shore said. “It was not something that I think the people around the airport or the WAAM organization agreed with. We were looking for a community-friendly airport, scaled down operations.”

But Moon said he has no regrets as he prepares to embark on a new phase in his life.

Moon said he’s been watching his daughter Christen play softball since she was 4 years old and wants to continue to do so now that the former Jensen Beach High School star has earned a scholarship to play for Garner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C.

“If I can gild a retirement from government work, I can work part time in the aviation industry and have time to see her play ball, that’s the best of all worlds for me,” Moon said.

His oldest son Charles is in the U.S. Army and Christen’s twin brother Cody is also a college student, Moon said. His wife will be looking for a job in North Carolina.

Moon said he would be willing to help his successor and other county officials with problems that might arise regarding Witham Field.

“I’m only a phone call away if they need help,” Moon said. “It’s been a big part of my life for 15 years. I just can’t turn around and walk away and ignore it.”